Transportation Study Prepared By: Michael Baker Jr., Inc. Prepared For: City of Charles Town, WV Hagerstown/Eastern Panhandle MPO 4/23/2014 Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK ii Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: Introduction 1 SECTION 2: Inventory of Transportation System 1 Roadway Classification 1 Traffic Control Devices 4 Traffic Volumes 5 Freight Rail 8 Passenger Rail 8 Transit Bus Service 8 Other Regional Transit Services in Jefferson County 10 Trails and Sidewalk Systems 11 SECTION 3: Land Use and Commuting Patterns 11 Land Use and Transportation 11 Land Use and Zoning 13 Demographics 13 Commuting Characteristics 15 Forecasted Land use 17 SECTION 4: Traffic Congestion and Safety Needs 19 Public and Stakeholder Comments 19 GPS Data Assessment of Existing Traffic Congestion 20 Crash Data 20 Assessing Future Congestion Needs 22 SECTION 5: Recommended Projects and Strategies 29 Transportation Projects 29 Transportation Project Costs 34 Transportation Project Implementation 34 Transit Strategies 34 Bike/Pedestrian Improvements 37 i Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK ii Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION This transportation plan for the City of Charles Town, West Virginia provides data, analyses, and project recommendations that will be integrated into the city’s comprehensive plan. Specific components of this planning effort include an assessment of the effectiveness of the existing roadway system considering present and future land use, as well as the identification of transportation projects needed to address roadway deficiencies within the city’s urban growth boundary. The plan was based on a combination of data sources, previous studies, stakeholder input, and technical analyses conducted both for this study and the Hagerstown/Eastern Panhandle Metropolitan Planning Organization (HEPMPO) Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). Exhibit 1 provides a summary of resources used for the development of the plan. Exhibit 1: Resources for Transportation Plan Development • Wells & Associates Memo on Charles Town Transportation Projects (2005) • City of Charles Town Comprehensive Plan (2006, as amended) • City of Charles Town Downtown Parking Study (2010) Previous • City of Charles Town Zoning Ordinance (2012) Studies • City of Charles Town Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (2012) • Ranson-Charles Town Transportation Development Fee Study (2011) • City of Ranson Comprehensive Plan (2012) • U.S. 340 East Gateway Plan (2012) Stakeholder • Meetings with city and county (Jefferson) planning staff Input • HEPMPO LRTP web-based public involvement tool (August 2013) • CENSUS 2010 demographics • CENSUS Longitudinal Employment Household Dynamics (LEHD) Transportation • TomTom GPS Data (2011-2012 travel time data) Data • WVDOT Traffic Counts • HEPMPO Regional Travel Model Outputs • Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority Ridership Data SECTION 2: INVENTORY OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM This section provides an overview of Charles Town’s street system including functional class definitions, locations of traffic control devices, and available traffic volume counts. Other multimodal components of the transportation system are also discussed including available bus and rail service within the Eastern Panhandle region. ROADWAY CLASSIFICATION The present network of streets is based on the original historic layout designed by Charles Washington and his successors. More recently, additions to the street network were based on individual decisions dictated by property boundaries and timing of development. There was no master plan to guide subsequent street patterning. 1 Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study The Charles Town Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Section 1333.02) provides design standards for any new public or private streets. These design standards are specified for defined functional street types according to the level of service they provide or are intended to provide. The functional street classification schema is applied to the entire network of streets in the City of Charles Town. The defined street functional class system categories are summarized by Exhibit 2. Based on these categories, the classification of the existing city streets is illustrated by Exhibit 3. Exhibit 2: Defined Street Types from City Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance Street Type Definition Per Section 1333.02 • Streets carry the principal portion of the vehicular trips entering and leaving urban areas as well as the majority of through movements desiring to bypass the central areas of the City. Significant intra-area travel and important intra- Primary urban travel may be served by this class of facility. It is intended that Primary Street Streets shall become state maintained highways. Service to abutting land is subordinate to the priority of travel service and major traffic movements for all Primary Streets. Direct access to abutting Lots is restricted on Primary Streets. Street parking is not permitted. • The Major Collector Streets interconnect and expand from Primary Streets and provide service to vehicular trips of moderate length at a somewhat lower level of travel mobility. Major Collector Streets are intended to either be state Major maintained highways or City Streets. Major Collector Streets serve intra- Collector urban vehicular trips between smaller geographic areas than those associated with Primary Streets. Direct access to abutting Lots is restricted on Major Collector Streets, with the exception of commercial uses. Street parking is only permitted on City streets. • Minor Collector Streets differ from Primary and Major Collector Streets in Minor that facilities penetrate neighborhoods. Minor Collector Streets distribute Collector vehicular trips from the Major Collectors. Street parking is permitted. • Neighborhood Center Streets link neighborhoods with Collector Streets. They Neighborhood are similar to Minor Collector Streets, but with greater emphasis on traffic Center Street calming measures and lower speeds. Direct access to abutting Lots is permitted. Street parking is permitted. • Neighborhood Streets serve the same purpose as Neighborhood Center Neighborhood Streets but with a greater emphasis on traffic calming measures, lower Street speeds, and low impact design. Direct access to abutting Lots is permitted. Street parking is permitted. The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) is responsible for planning, engineering, right-of-way acquisition, construction, reconstruction, traffic regulation, and maintenance of more than 34,000 miles of roads within the state. These include interstate routes, US routes, WV Routes, and County Routes. Exhibit 4 illustrates the current roadways maintained by WVDOH within the city of Charles Town. Improvements to state roadways would be eligible for state funding sources. 2 2 Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study Exhibit 3: Existing Street Classification Map 3 Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study Exhibit 4: WVDOH State Maintained Roadways General Highway Map: Jefferson County Sheet 2, 2011 West Virginia Department of Transportation TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES Intersection traffic control devices are important components for the operation and safety of the transportation system. Traffic signals are necessary for higher volume roadways characterized by significant intersecting cross street traffic. Stop signs are reserved for lower volume roadways and are limited by the amount of traffic that can be processed. Exhibit 5 illustrates the current locations of traffic signals within the City of Charles Town, which are maintained by WVDOH. Exhibit 5: Traffic Signal Locations in Charles Town 4 4 Project Report | Charles Town Transportation Study TRAFFIC VOLUMES Traffic counts within the Charles Town urban growth boundary were compiled from several sources including: • West Virginia Department of Highways • Ranson-Charles Town Transportation Development Fee Study • Wells & Associates Study The traffic count volumes for each of the locations (as related through an ID number) are presented in Exhibits 6A and 6B. The locations of the traffic counts, as illustrated by Exhibit 7 (related to tables by ID number), include both mainline (Exhibit 6A) and intersection traffic counts (Exhibit 6B). Both types of counts provide information on the average daily vehicle traffic and AM/PM peak hour volumes at that particular location. The intersection traffic counts provide volumes for each intersection approach. Exhibit 6A: Charles Town Mainline Traffic Count Data Year of Daily AM Peak PM Peak Location ID Count Volume Volume Volume 7 E. Washington St. (east of Court St.) 2010 16,627 1,034 1,301 8 Augustine Ave. 2010 4,272 393 409 9 WV 115 (north of Samuel St.) 2010 6,634 424 557 10 Co. Rt. 34 (north of WV 115) 2010 6,736 408 515 11 US 340 (north of WV 115) 2010 24,483 1,525 1,963 12 WV 115 (north of WV 9) 2008 7,097 453 592 13 Summit Point Rd (west of WV 51) 2008 3,588 215 301 14 WV 51 East (west of Co. Rt. 13) 2008 9,864 654 860 15 Co. Rt. 340/4 2010 1,150 72 136 16 Co. Rt. 340/2 2008 410 N/A N/A 17 US 340 (north of Wheatland) 2008 9,200 N/A N/A 18 Huyett Road 2008 2,000 N/A N/A 19 Augustine Ave. (south of Gibsonville Rd.) 2008 2,600 N/A N/A 20 Cave Rd. (off of Augustine Ave.) 2008 1,400 N/A N/A 21 US 340 (south of WV 115) 2008 14,400 N/A N/A 22 Summit Point Rd 2008 3,100